College of General Dentistry News

Dental practices sought for pulpitis research

General dental practices are being sought for an NHS-funded research project, and the researchers are encouraging CGDent members to apply to participate.

The study into Pulpotomy or root canal treatment for the management of Irreversible Pulpitis in mature teeth (PIP study) compares the effectiveness of full pulpotomy and root canal treatment for irreversible pulpitis in permanent pre-molar and molar teeth.

Following a successful feasibility study which informed the final design of the PIP study, the researchers are now looking to recruit general dental practices in Scotland and England to each support the recruitment of approximately 11 participants and follow them up at one year. Training, support and remuneration are provided.

The project is being conducted by the Universities of Dundee, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Liverpool, Sheffield, King’s College London, plus NHS Education for Scotland and the Centre for Healthcare Randomised Trials and was commissioned by the NHS National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme.

PIP study details

Patient participants will need to be at least 16 years old with symptoms indicative of irreversible pulpitis in a pre-molar or molar tooth with deep caries and/or a deep restoration. They must be seeking treatment at an NHS dental practice and receive a full pulpotomy.

Patients whose teeth have immature roots, clinical or radiographic signs of a necrotic pulp, insufficient tissue for a restoration or a poor prognosis (e.g. internal or external resorption) will not be eligible, likewise those with presence of a sinus, tenderness to percussion, buccal tenderness, pathological mobility or evidence off pathology on a periapical radiograph. All participating patients must be able to give informed consent.

Dentists taking part in the study will receive training, with fees and verifiable CPD provided, as well as remuneration covering set up costs, the cost of administration at the start and end of the study, service support cost and attendance of the end of study conference. You would continue to claim NHS fees and any charges for private treatment in the usual way.

Further information is available here. If you are interested in participating or have any questions, please email PIP‐[email protected] or complete the site initiation questionnaire.

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College of General Dentistry News, Recent event

The CGDent Primary Dental Care Research Poster Award – **POSTPONED**

**PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED (NEW DATE TO BE CONFIRMED IN DUE COURSE)**

The College will be hosting a Primary Dental Care research project poster display at the CGDent-Quintessence Publishing “Excellence for the Dental Team” international conference taking place in London on 24 – 25 March 2023, and abstracts are invited.

Award

An overall award will be given for the best poster presentation. Adjudicators may group entries according to career stage, scope of practice and role within the primary care team. A further award (or awards) may be made within one or more of these categories.

Eligibility

Any member of the dental care team (including those who do not have statutory registration such as practice managers and administrators) may submit a poster, as may dental students and trainees for any dental professional role. Please indicate your professional registration category or job title, or student or trainee status in your submission. Submitted research must not have been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Submissions

Initial submissions must take the form of an abstract. The abstract should be structured highlighting the research process undertaken, and the clinical importance and clinical implications of the results obtained. The maximum word count is 350. Please do not include images or graphics. If the study was funded by an external awarding body, please reference this in the abstract (not included in word count). Please ensure that the submission follows the structured format below:

  • Title
  • Author name(s)
  • Practice or institution affiliations
  • Aims and objectives of the investigation/study
  • Methods used
  • Essential results
  • Conclusion

For guidance on submitting a high-quality abstract, please refer to the Society for Academic Primary Care’s abstract review criteria

Please submit your completed abstract as a Microsoft Word document by email to [email protected] with the subject line “CGDent primary dental care poster award”.

Poster presentation

Entrants will later be expected to submit their poster electronically in the form of a PDF to be presented on a plasma screen at the conference. A detailed specification for preparation of the electronic poster will be provided on acceptance of the abstract. Presenters must be willing to attend their display for adjudication during the conference (day passes will be provided).

Closing date

The deadline for submission of abstracts is Sunday 15 January 2023. Acceptance of abstracts will be notified by email by 15 February 2023. Final poster submissions will be required by 10 March 2023.

Delegates at the CGDent-Quintessence Publishing International Conference will be able to view the accepted submissions throughout the conference, as well as the presentations by the researchers and the presentation of the award(s).

College members receive a 20-40% discount on attending the conference, further details of which can be found here

College of General Dentistry Recent event

Meta-analyses and their appraisal

CGDent recorded webinar, Wednesday 7 December 2022

This lunch and learn webinar is the third in the College’s Research and Critical Appraisal of Evidence series of webinars.

This third CGDent webinar outlines the main elements and key stages of meta-analysis and how to appraise meta-analyses. We examine heterogeneity and its causes, consider the interpretation of a forest plot and look at appraisal checklists.

Speakers:

  • Derek Richards, Specialist in Dental Public Health, Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Dentistry
  • Dr Mark-Steven Howe, General Dental Practitioner

Further webinars in this series:

GDC development outcomes: A C

CPD approx 1 hour

This webinar is hosted by the College of General Dentistry and powered by our CPD delivery partner, ProDental CPD – watch the recording below.

It was free to view live for all dental professionals, and College members also have free access to the recorded webinar and can claim CPD hours for free.  A £20 fee will apply for non-members who wish to claim CPD.

Membership of the College of General Dentistry is open to all registered dental professionals. Membership for dentists is available from £94, and for other registered dental professionals from £33. The full list of CGDent membership rates is at https://cgdent.uk/membership-fees/. 

watch webinar

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College of General Dentistry Recent event

Statistics in the real world

CGDent recorded webinar, Wednesday 2 November 2022

This lunch and learn webinar is the second in the College’s Research and Critical Appraisal of Evidence series of webinars.

This second CGDent webinar provides an overview of key statistical terms needed to support critical appraisal. We explore statistical terms and their real-world interpretation and discuss the difference between statistically significant and clinically significant results.

Speakers:

  • Derek Richards, Specialist in Dental Public Health, Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Dentistry
  • Dr Mark-Steven Howe, General Dental Practitioner

Further webinars in this series:

GDC learning outcomes: A C

CPD approx 1 hour

This webinar is hosted by the College of General Dentistry and powered by our CPD delivery partner, ProDental CPD – watch the recording below.

It was free to view live for all dental professionals, and College members also have free access to the recorded webinar and can claim CPD hours for free.  A £20 fee will apply for non-members who wish to claim CPD.

Membership of the College of General Dentistry is open to all registered dental professionals. Membership for dentists is available from £94, and for other registered dental professionals from £33. The full list of CGDent membership rates is at https://cgdent.uk/membership-fees/. 

watch webinar

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College of General Dentistry News

NIHR Career Progression Fellowships now available to GDPs

The NIHR School for Primary Care Research (SPCR) is currently inviting applications for their annual Primary Care Clinician Career Progression Fellowships, which this year are available to primary care clinicians practising in the UK, including general dental practitioners.

Aimed at primary care clinicians who want to start or continue a career in primary care research, the part-time, one-year Fellowships are an opportunity to further develop an academic portfolio in preparation to apply for and conduct a PhD.

The Fellowships can be undertaken at any one of the School’s nine member universities and applicants do not have to be employed by a member university when applying for the Fellowship. Details of each of the universities and their available research programmes can be found here.

In addition to the research opportunities available at each SPCR university, successful applicants will have access to a range of benefits offered by SPCR, including specialised training opportunities, networking, additional funding, mentoring and NIHR Academy membership.

Before applying for a Fellowship, applicants are advised to check that their proposed research project is compatible with the NIHR remit and are encouraged to contact their preferred university to discuss hosting their planned research.

Anyone wishing to apply can download the application form and find more information about the application process here.

Applications close on Monday 25 April 2022 (midnight), online interviews will be held on Thursday 9 June 2022 and the awards start from August 2022.


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College of General Dentistry Recent event

How to read a paper properly

Recorded webinar, Wednesday 28 September 2022

This lunch and learn webinar is the first in the College’s Research and Critical Appraisal of Evidence series of webinars.

The aim of this first webinar is to help you understand how to critically appraise a research paper. Our expert speakers Derek Richards and Dr Mark-Steven Howe, look at the major types of study design and the main biases that might affect its validity. The need for critical appraisal of research evidence is also discussed and the speakers provide an overview of the range of appraisal tools.

Speakers:

  • Derek Richards, Specialist in Dental Public Health, Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Dentistry
  • Dr Mark-Steven Howe, General Dental Practitioner

Further webinars in this series:

GDC development outcomes: A C

CGDent members and ProDental subscribers have free access to the recorded webinar and can claim CPD hours for free.  A £20 fee will apply for non-members/non-subscribers who wish to claim CPD.

watch webinar

This webinar is powered by our CPD delivery partner, ProDental CPD. 

Membership of the College of General Dentistry is open to all registered dental professionals. Membership for dentists is available from £94, and for other registered dental professionals from £33. The full list of CGDent membership rates is at https://cgdent.uk/membership-fees/. 

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College of General Dentistry News

The PDJ Archive: a rich resource for members, with over 1,300 articles

The Primary Dental Journal Archive is now up and running, with access for CGDent members fully established.

The Primary Dental Journal (PDJ) is the College of General Dentistry’s quarterly peer-reviewed journal, and with its unique dedication to general dental practice, is widely recognised as a leading resource for all dental professionals working in primary care.

Three themed issues in each annual volume explore topics of interest and relevance to the primary care dental team, led by an invited Guest Editor who is a renowned expert in the field, with one ‘general issue’ per volume covering a wide range of topics.

Published by the Faculty of General Dental Practice until its transfer into the College earlier this year, PDJ was first issued in October 2012, and was preceded by Primary Dental Care.

As well as receiving quarterly printed copies of the latest issues of PDJ, College members now have exclusive online access not only to the full articles in the current issue, but to all past PDJ content and all Primary Dental Care content published this century, a rich resource of over 1,300 articles spanning 23 volumes and 88 issues.

Curated by our publishing partner, SAGE Publishing, the PDJ Archive is an invaluable research tool, offering a wide array of clinical papers of ongoing relevance to general dental care, as well as articles covering a range of professional topics which continue to be discussed and debated.

It offers members access to content which they may not have received in print at the point of publication, and for those who were longstanding members of the FGDP and may prefer to consult their library of print issues, the online search functionality will enable them to quickly identify where to find particular articles.

To access the PDJ Archive, members should visit https://cgdent.uk/primary-dental-journal-archive

Members may be interested to note that the College is now co-producing a series of webinars that examine topics covered in recent and imminent issues of PDJ. These are free to view live, with CGDent members also offered a free CPD certificate and free on-demand access to the recordings. Visit our events page for a list of upcoming live webinars and to access recent webinar recordings.

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College of General Dentistry News

Survey on medical emergencies in primary dental care

Researchers at Newcastle University are studying the prevalence of medical emergency events in primary dental care, and the confidence of the dental team in managing them.

The project is part of an NHS Health Education England North East research programme, and CGDent members are asked to support the research by giving a few minutes of their time to complete a short online questionnaire:

https://newcastle.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/medicalemergencies

Participants should be a dentist, dental hygienist or dental therapist based in general dental practice, specialist practice or community dental services, and can enter a prize draw on completion to win a £50 Amazon voucher.

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College of General Dentistry News

Survey of CGDent members on the prescription, manufacture and fitting of flexible dentures

A study supported by the University of Kent is looking at the prescription, manufacture and fitting of flexible dentures by dentists and clinical dental technicians who practise in the UK and are members of the College of General Dentistry.

We encourage College members to support this research, which is led by Ali Al Bayati AssocFCGDent, by sparing a few minutes of their time to complete this short survey.

College of General Dentistry Student Advice

Four important reasons to get involved with research

Qasim Mohammedbhai, fifth year BDS student at King’s College London, explains the benefits of conducting research whilst at university or as a dental practitioner.

In this blog I am going to be talking about getting involved in research, either as an undergraduate, postgraduate or even a fully-fledged member of the dental team. The two questions I am going to address are:

  1. How do I get involved in research? 
  2. What can I gain and how can I benefit from doing research? 

In answer to the first question I will tell you about how I got involved in research. I got on really well with one of the professors at King’s College, Dr Ian Thompson, luckily, he was one of the teachers that had a lot of time to give to his students. I was always interested in research so I asked him whether I could get involved. He did a lot of work with bioactive ceramics, a burgeoning area of research within dentistry. From that point forward, we worked on a project which tests the ability of bioactive ceramics to prevent dentine hypersensitivity. 

So how can you get involved in research? My first piece of advice is to think about what you are interested in. It will make the work you do a lot more engaging and far more relevant. For me that happened to be dental material science. The next thing is asking around, be it your personal tutor, PhD students, or senior dentists in practice, and ask them whether they know of any research opportunities. This is where studying or working in a teaching dental hospital is invaluable, as there are so many research opportunities available. I had to ask a lot of people before I landed my research project, so you need to persevere with it.  

NB. Remember you are not pestering them; you are going to be a valuable asset as you will be the one doing a lot of the hard work!

The second question is what skills can one gain from doing research. Now the obvious one is something to write on your CV, but there are far more useful things to be gained:

1. Lateral Thinking
In research things always go wrong. Results will be off, the methodology won’t work out or the machine breaks, the list goes on and on. Ultimately, it is up to you to find a way around this hurdle. It can be very frustrating at times, but it hones your problem-solving skills. If you speak to the experienced clinicians, they will tell you that is what dentistry is all about.

2. Perseverance
Research is not as glamorous as it may seem. At times it can be cumbersome and disheartening when things are not going your way. This is where determination and patience are invaluable. 

3. Critical appraisal
One of my clinical supervisors always used to say: “If you have a patient seen by 5 different dentists, you’ll end up with 6 different care plans”. What this means is that unlike medicine there is no set guideline or protocol for dental treatment. Ultimately, the choice is in the hands of the practitioner. The way one decides is by reading papers, but these need to be critically examined and not blindly followed. Once you have carried out experiments of your own and evaluated your own research, you can understand the shortcomings of other experiments. Experiments can be hard to visualise, so the analogy I offer is imagine reading about doing an extraction versus actually doing one yourself. There is something to be said about actually doing the procedure in order to properly understand it. 

4. Public Speaking
This is a skill you learn by experience alone. Academics get the opportunity to discuss their research at conferences in front of large audiences. In my case, I was fortunate enough to give a talk at the British Dental Hygienist and Therapists conference and present a poster at the annual biomaterials conference. 

In summary research is not a members-only club and is easier to get involved in than you may think. Not only does it enhance your CV, but more importantly it enables you to develop a number of skills, key to becoming a successful dental practitioner.

Author bio

I am a final year dental student at King’s College London. During my five years of university I have found an interest in Prosthodontics and research. Outside of Dentistry my biggest hobby is sport. I have competed in first teams for hockey, table tennis and squash. Another passion of mine is languages, I speak Spanish, Italian, Gujarati and am currently learning Arabic.

Qasim Mohammedbhai

This student advice blog was originally published by FGDP(UK) in March 2020 and has been republished by the College of General Dentistry with the author’s permission.